WELCOME to my blog! As a former Seventh-day Adventist, I address the false doctrines I was taught to believe as a child and are still being espoused as truth from Adventists' pulpits today. I thank God for unshackling me from this different gospel and from the fear that gripped me daily because of uncertainty regarding my salvation. Eternal life is ours NOW if we believe the simple, unadulterated Good News of the Gospel. It is my prayer that we focus our attention on what The Bible Says...

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Isaiah 66:22, 23 - Sabbath In Heaven?

22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD, "So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD (NKJV)

This expression "new heavens and earth" has to be defined by the context in which it is found. For example, in 2 Peter 3:1-13, the usage of it is clear that it is referring to the next era of time in heaven where there is absolutely nothing that exists as sinful. But the context of Isaiah in which Isaiah 66:22, 23 is in disallows such a meaning. Please consider that Isaiah is speaking of the same "new heavens and earth" in chapter 65 which helps us determine the meaning of it:

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind" (65:17)

Now note what all is in Isaiah's "new heavens and earth":

Levites (66:21)

New Moon (66:23)

Sabbath (66:23)

flesh (66:23)

wolves, lambs, lions and serpents (65:25)

children who die at 100 years old (65:20)

building houses and planting vineyards, work with hands (65:21, 22)

bringing forth children (65:23)

Now when you compare what is actually taught about the New Testament's "new heaven and earth" you can readily conclude that Isaiah's "New heaven and earth" cannot be speaking about the heaven where God's literal throne exists today, but most probable of the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity--which was a new era in their existence as a nation.

Christ is our priest in heaven and is not of Levi. The law was changed (Heb. 8:1; 7:11-15)

New Moon and Sabbaths are done away and a mere shadow of things to come (Col. 2:14-17). Besides, there is no sun or moon in heaven (Rev. 21:23, 22:5). This fact makes it impossible to have a regular Sabbath keeping as well as a the "new moon."

no flesh shall inherit it (1 Cor. 15:50ff)

no death exists there (Rev. 22:4)

Following are some charts that deal with typical arguments that Adventists give regarding Isaiah:

5 comments:

Thanks for giving this extra circulation. More material in a PowerPoint series is published on "The Law" is here: http://www.lubbockindianaavecofc.com/#!downloads (note particularly July and August 2012)

Isaiah 65 is in relation to Deuteronomy 28 which outlines the blessings of Israel if they keep the commandments and return to Him. God fulfilled His promise and did bring them into the Promised Land but unfortunately as they did repeatedly throughout the Old Testament well into the New Testament, they backslid and received the curses of Deuteronomy 28 instead. Note where it says, ''but no one will buy you.'' This translates to redeem or save you. He is the only One who can redeem Israel. That is the ''forever'' spoken of in Deuteronomy 28 v 45 and 46. But the 12 tribes can still come back to Him and avoid the second death/corruption but they will not fully be restored until His Second Coming. This is proven in Revelation 22 v3. In Christ's mercy and grace He gave the Lost Sheep and the gentiles the spiritual keys to the Kingdom but we do not enter His Kingdom until He establishes it in the New Heaven and New Earth. Isaiah 66 is speaking of His Second Coming. Verse 4 is speaking of the grand illusion. Verse 15 is clearly speaking of Judgment Day. Verse 22 ''shall remain before Me.'' Key word is remain or everlasting. New moons can mean new months, new beginnings or holy days. And one Sabbath to another can mean that God's clock continues to operate as always or an eternal Sabbath where we enter into Eternal Rest with Him. Either way I WANT IN!!! So you don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You don't have to follow the religion to follow the Word. Christ IS The Lord of the Sabbath.

And I want to be clear that YES when He gave us the keys to the Kingdom He also stated in Luke 17:20-21 - ''And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.'' And YES we are ALL redeemed by HIS blood but again, this is in relation to the promise of restoration of Jerusalem and the children of Israel in the establishing context and establishing the timelines for Isaiah 65 and 66. All Ten Commandments are for our profit and not only God-inspired but written by His finger. And He came to fulfill or perfect and demonstrate how we are to keep them in love not out of obligation. The greatest sacrifice is our obedience. But we are NOT to beat each other up over days. But do ask yourself one thing, why does it say this in Matthew 24 v 20 - ''But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day'' Food for thought. And note the following as well - Consider just this one fact: the word Sabbath appears 107 times in the Old Testament and a surprising 68 times in the New Testament. The “first day” of the week, however, is mentioned only eight times in the New Testament, a rather revealing indication about which day was observed then and still commanded as the proper Sabbath for today.

The Disciples Kept the Sabbath 85 Times in the book of Acts

So what exactly do ancient languages teach us on the subject of the Seventh-day Sabbath? Interestingly enough, the most ancient of all languages literally call Saturday - Sabbath. There are 108 different languages that refer to Saturday as "the Sabbath".

And that does NOT include the number 7 which is synonymous with the Sabbath.

By the way, GREAT POST!!!! Continue to seek truth and share your journey!!!!

Two more points I need to make real quick. The law was not changed in Hebrews. Christ fulfilled or perfected it in Hebrews 7:19 - ''For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. The ceremonial laws were done away with as a result. Also He fulfilled all sin offerings, atonements, etc by the shedding of His blood. The Sabbaths or holy days were fulfilled by Him as well. He literally became the Passover feast - the Lamb, the Unleavened Bread, The Feast of the Tabernacle, etc. So we do not have to keep those days but we should keep them in remembrance as a memorial and we can do this with Communion as often as we like as well. But what most people fail to realize is that the evening and the morning happened BEFORE the sun and moon were created on the 5th day. So we reached the 7th day with only two days consisting of the existence of the moon and sun. And this came BEFORE the law was handed down to Moses as well. It is obvious that God also gave Adam and Eve commandments or else how would Abel know the proper sacrifice? So it is safe to say that the Sabbath was established in the beginning especially since it is the completion of Creation. Every other nation worshiped sun gods on Sol Deis or the day of the Sun = Sunday. Out of all the commandments the 4th is the longest and only one containing ''Remember'' and to keep it ''holy'' or separate/distinct. The part of the 4th commandment which states ..''the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is'' which also distinguishes and sets Him apart from all other gods. So you reject Him and His identity because what is the first line of the Bible? Genesis 1:1 - ''In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.'' No coincidence that He injoined that in the Sabbath commandment. Can't separate the two which is why Christ was not only the Lord of the Sabbath, but He is also our rest and He created the heaven and the earth under the authority of His Father so God's authority is also in question. Just food for thought. Hope this helps.

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I am retired and enjoying life. I am a published author of Gifted Moments, A Book of Poetry and Prose. My focused mission is to proclaim the Good News of the real simple Gospel and to adhere to what The Bible Says....